Why 0% in Bitcoin & Blockchain is Actually a Riskier Bet Than 1%

Bitcoin is down 50% from its highs — but Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan says the price is the least important thing happening in crypto right now.

In this episode of Raise Your Average, hosts Pierre Daillie and Mike Philbrick sit down with Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management, to make sense of the 2026 crypto winter. Hougan argues this is "the best winter ever" for crypto: prices are down, but the fundamentals, regulatory clarity, and institutional infrastructure are stronger than in any prior cycle. The conversation moves from Bitcoin's role as scarce, digital hard money to the quieter, faster-moving story underneath it: stablecoins and tokenization rebuilding the plumbing of global finance.

Hougan walks through why the "neutral" Bitcoin allocation isn't zero, why advisors and institutions get stuck at the finish line even after months of due diligence, and how blockchain rails already move money and assets faster and cheaper than traditional banking. The episode closes with a deep dive into agentic AI, exploring how autonomous AI agents transacting 24/7 could become the largest driver of blockchain activity yet, and what that means for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Chainlink, and Bittensor. A must-listen for advisors trying to figure out how to talk to clients about crypto without the noise.